The apex apparel body sought an alternative customs channel as an emergency byway alongside the global Asycuda world system that repeated failed them in cargo shipment. Interruption in the system earlier had held back export and import trade through the seaports, they pointed out. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) proposed that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) arrange alternative servers in Dhaka and Chittagong customs houses to conduct uninterrupted external trade in readymade garments. The BGMEA’s proposal came after the country’s export-import business faced a blow on January 18-22 due to technical glitch in the Asycuda world system. Officials said the problem now has been resolved but reason behind the technical glitch was yet to be fixed by both local and foreign experts. Experts of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are now working to find out the fault line, they said. The UNCTAD provided customs-data software and technical support to the revenue board in upgrading the Asycuda++ to Asycuda World. Talking to the FE correspondent, BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman said there should be alternative arrangement for clearance of goods from ports in case of technical problem in the Asycuda world network. The government introduced the Asycuda world system in 2013 to digitise export-import procedures and expedite clearance of products from ports. “We have to meet lead time of buyers for exporting readymade garments. Exporters have to incur loss if release of goods gets delayed from ports,” he said. The government should develop local expertise to handle the automated systems, Mr Rahman said. There must be instant order from the higher authority to complete customs procedures in manual system in case of interruption in the automated systems, he said. In the letter, the BGMEA said import-export had faced interruption several times since the introduction of the system due to technical glitch in software. “Most of the import-export operations are conducted through Dhaka and Chittagong customs houses. It is necessary to arrange an alternative server in those customs houses in case of problem in Asycuda World System,” it said. On emergency purpose, alternative server can be used to complete the customs procedures and the customs authority can shift the data to the main server later. The NBR official said an alternative arrangement of customs server is under consideration of the authority to support the main server in case of technical breakdown.
